iMac 27" A1419 SSD Upgrade.

[@melissamonteros3801]

This is absolutely the best (by far) in explanation and visual clarity, and I have watched MANY!

[@brad1785]

If you're watching this in 2023 and have upgraded the iMac to Monterey (possibly before but I don't know for sure), you do not need the temperature sensor anymore. I just successfully replaced the HDD in mine with an SSD and did not have any issues with the fan speed without the temperature sensor.

[@thardyryll]

Is your iMac a late 27 with the hybrid drive? Did you do anything with the blade SSD behind the logic board?

[@brad1785]

@@thardyryll late 2015 17" iMac17,1. Shipped with the 3TB Fusion Drive option. I replaced the blade SSD with a WD SN770 and the Sintech adapter (B07FYY3H5F on Amazon). Replaced HDD with MX500 SSD. Only other thing I replaced was the thermal paste. It's been running great.

[@giohwang309]

I'm wondering how the OS upgrade would detect the temperature of the SSD without the sensor itself. Could you please verify the source and how it achieves the temp reading without the sensor? Thanks!

[@rehyt001]

This is the best I've seen. Your commentary is brilliant with an amazing amount of detailed guidance and tips including cautions. Your work is generally far superior than iFixit and OWC videos. If I could, I would give you 100 thumbs ups.

[@dirtthunder1638]

Great how-to! My A1419 had the HD fail in 2021 and it has been setting in the box. I finally have the time and motivation to take it apart and do a full upgrade to an i7 and ssd's. Thanks for a very helpful video.

[@davegallagher6407]

Thank you for creating this detailed step-by-step guide. It's really clear with good, detailed explanations as to why each step is important. It gave me the confidence to swap out my old HD for an SSD after it failed. I particularly appreciate the suggestion of taping the LCD first, to ensure it's all OK, before sticking it back down. Good job!

[@iRevive]

Fantastic! I am happy to hear you were successful at replacing your hard drive. Thank you for your feedback!

[@davebuttig1350]

I did it after watching a multitude of informative videos like this one. Thanks man!

[@iRevive]

This is awesome! I am happy to hear that you were able to perform your upgrade.

[@paulfallon8786]

Awesome walk-through video with thorough explanations, no crappy music, and particularly for covering the initial startup after the install. I have watched a few of these and I often wondered where and when the OS was installed and when was it put there and you have addressed this well. Do you have any plans to do a full fusion drive replacement on a thin body iMac 27?, especially going into the PCIe SSD and upgrading that to something substantial, (and useful), say 500GB or 1TB. I have a Late 2015 and OWC says PCIe on that model can't be replaced but doesn't say why, yet models before and after Late 2015 can be, and are treated the same - go figure! Much respect for your work, and for your effort in posting it and making it public. Cheers from Australia.

[@iRevive]

Thank you for your kind words. It truly means a lot to me. This is a very good question. On thin iMac logic boards, there is an optional PCI-E express slot in the back of the logic board near the USB ports that is used for fusion drive. However, not all iMacs have this slot available. For instance, the base model Late 2015 21.5" non 4k iMac does not have this slot populated, only empty bare traces where a slot would exist. However, the upgraded fusion drive model Late 2015 21.5" non 4k model has the optional PCI-E slot populated allowing you to replace the SSD with a larger capacity SSD. I can't say exactly off the top of my head if the 4K 21.5" 2015 iMac has the PCI-E Slot populated on the base model. If your iMac is a non 4k model and does not already have a fusion drive set up, it will not have a slot on the board for you to create a fusion drive. I hope this answers your question.

[@itegem]

Excellent video, very very helpful, best video for this of the many I have seen. Only one thing really missing: showing the disconnect of the wires in detail, the ifixit video shows that much better. One more thing I would like to mention: after removing the old tape, also make sure to remove any glue residue, especially on the panel side. Otherwise what can happen (it happened to me) after the test run you lift the panel again and the tape protector sticks to that residue, thus exposing the glue on the new tape before you were ready to do that. Also if you want to know what those 2 wires are for: the big one is for the LCD as you mentioned, the other one is for the back light. Since this is LCD the back light is an independent electrical circuit that requires a separate cable. Maybe that cable also includes a temperature sensor for the LCD panel.

[@edqproductionsllc5916]

I just sent a inquiry to you via your website about my late 2012 iMac. I look forward to hearing your quote.

[@bangmet45]

Does this model does not have pcie slot? Mine in 2015 27" HDD model, planning to upgrade to m.2 blade ssd, if the slot is there.

[@clivewuest8529]

Great and very informative video. One question. I have a late 2015 27" iMac with a Fusion drive. Can I assume the upgrade process will still be the same. Thanks Clive

[@kremisikresi]

That's my question too.

[@gerdt.7106]

Great video. I change the hdd but the computer will not start. If you connect the power supply and look inside, there is Olli one green led on. The power adapter is Ok. What can be wrong?

[@ronyrea2021]

Hello friend, your videos are very good, I appreciate your contribution, however I want to ask you how to do it or what the procedure would be like to only install PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 How to clone the HDD to PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2, of course INTERNALLY, what would those steps be before and after opening my iMac Late 2015 27 inc, I will be attentive. Thank you.

[@blfilmcreativemotionpictur5597]

Is it necessery to put the thermal sensor? I mean I did not put it at all just connect the ssd to the original cable and the fan seems to work normaly. Sometimes it speeds up (during final cut or photoshop) amybe mor often then before but that is all. I have upgraded the cpu and blade ssd too.

[@iRevive]

Truthfully, we are starting to discover that the sensor is not necessary on all iMacs now. Once of my technicians discovered that it was not necessary on a 2017 27" that came in for an upgrade. However, we have seen 2012 and 2013 iMacs need this sensor. I am not sure if the fan issue was resolved with a firmware updated, or if newer SSDs account for the missing 12v line that 2.5" drives do not have that the 3.5" drives do have. If you iMac is running with normal fan speeds after an SSD upgrade, you should be alright without installing the OWC thermal sensor. Thank you for your feedback.

[@blfilmcreativemotionpictur5597]

@@iRevive what is the a normal fun speed? When it works abnormaly does it runs always on high speed?

[@iRevive]

@@blfilmcreativemotionpictur5597 sorry for the delay. KZbin doesn’t do a good job notifying new comments. If there is a sensor issue, the fan will run full speed. It will be very noticeable as the fan will be loud and borderline annoying to hear.

[@eboymario]

great video it helped me do this to my 2015 21.5 iMac.

[@Carne-t2q]

I'm going to upgrade my 2014 iMac 21.5 inch to a SSD do I need to buy a thermal hard drive Senser for it can someone let me know thank you

[@iRevive]

You do not need a thermal sensor for any 21.5" iMac after 2012

[@Carne-t2q]

@@iRevive thank you very much time to upgrade here I go 😜

[@ThePanSS]

My iMac 27" 2013 has this sensor but fan are going crazzy. Don’t know what to do. It is in safe mode with ssd.

[@jimmyGerm601]

Thank you. Great how-to video.

[@matheusfarias9555]

Great video, very professional, thanks mate. Cheers from Denmark.

[@iRevive]

Thanks for the feedback. I am glad you found my video!

[@MohammedAli-bj9jk]

This is awesome. I appreciate the efforts exerted. The sound is very clear (looks like a podcast talk-a good one though). I am planning to upgrade 27 imac 2019. But i have 1TB flash storage inly. Is it possuble to instsll the ssd? What brand and or other appliances would you recommend? Thank you again. 👏😁

[@Marvin-ex1dn]

do i need the thermal sensor?

[@iRevive]

@@Marvin-ex1dn the thermal sensor issue seems to only be necessary on some 2012 and 2013 iMacs. Anything newer does not need a thermal sensor.

[@sergidue]

Hi Good vídeo. To clone HDD to The SSD can use CCC ? If the clone rules ok i can close the IMac with the Tape. It’s ok?

[@chinzoz3415]

Do i have to use thermal sensor?

[@kunkuman]

Is there any reason this would not work with the Crucial BX500 SSD? Crucial BX500 4TB 3D NAND SATA 2.5-Inch Internal SSD, up to 540MB/s - CT4000BX500SSD1

[@iRevive]

@@kunkuman This process will still work with a BX500. I just prefer the MX500 because it has faster read/ write speeds.

[@kunkuman]

@@iRevive Yes thanks... after reading a few reviews I realized it was not the way to go.

[@AuspiciousFrog]

Planning to do this upgrade with my late 2015 27” iMac. Not wanting to ruin anything fan wise, will I need to get the heat sensor part for my Mac? Thanks :)

[@iRevive]

You will need the fan sensor on your 27" Model. If you choose not to install the thermal sensor, you can alternatively install a fan control program like Macs Fan Controller from crystalidea.com

[@AuspiciousFrog]

@@iRevive thank you for letting me know, would probably be safer to get the sensor (want to be as safe as possible haha). Thanks again :)

[@iRevive]

@@AuspiciousFrog You're welcome. Good luck with the upgrade!

[@AuspiciousFrog]

@@iRevive Thanks! One last thing before I commit to purchasing some items for the upgrade, do I have to purchase a specific SSD that is compatible with Macs, or can I use any SSd? I was thinking of purchasing a 1tb WD Blue SSD and just thought I'd check before purchase, thanks again :)

[@iRevive]

@@AuspiciousFrog This is a good question. As long as you use the SSD sensor, you should be able to use most solid-state drives. Western digital blue drive will be sufficient. I personally like using Crucial MX500.

[@tubemoog]

Thanks for the vid......I have to do this to my iMac

[@kremisikresi]

Hi there! I have this iMac late 2015 with a 2T Fusion Drive HD. It's not clear to me if I can swap to a SSD and if I can reduce the size of the new disk to 1T and/or if I need to change other parts of the iMac. Can you help me to get a clear answer? Thanks!

[@iRevive]

Hi there. Fusion drive is two physical drives (1 2TB Mechanical and 1 128GB SSD) installed in your iMac that are programed to function as 1 single drive. You can still replace this drive setup with any SSD of your choosing. There are some optional extra steps. It is advised to remove the logic board so that you can remove the 128GB SSD from the back of the logic board. That is, if the 128GB SSD is failing. However, some people will leave the 128GB SSD in the logic board and keep it as a 2nd drive.

[@kremisikresi]

Thank you! So ideally I should change both the 2T mechanical drive and the second 128GB on the back of the logic board. That's to be sure to avoid issues. Right?@@iRevive

[@iRevive]

@@kremisikresi that’s what we do in our business just to be safe. In the past, I’ve seen where just the mechanical drive gets replaced while the 128 gig SSD is left behind pose weird issues. Just to be safe. We remove the 128 gig SSD. However, this can be daunting since the entire logic board has to come out.

[@kremisikresi]

I'm in Europe and if I were just near you I'd easily decide to let you work on my iMac. I do not think to touch anymore the machine risking any weird malfunctioning. Anyway your tutorial is very clear. Thank you again.@@iRevive

[@thieunguyen-ky2hq]

Did you format the ssd with OS before installing or just straight from the box?

[@iRevive]

I believe in this instance, I cloned the data using carbon copy cloner before installing the drive.

[@misfit68]

What if I don’t have any data that I need to back up do I still need to back up the OS ? Or is the OS saved on the factory ssd

[@iRevive]

You can back up the drive which contains macOS. Or if you want to start out with a clean slate, you can skip backing up the drive and instead boot into internet recovery mode to download the most supported version of macOS by pressing Command+Option+R when your computer is booting up.

[@juanito-2023]

Do you have to put that sensor for the ssd anyway? What happens if I put it directly without the sensor? I would appreciate your response also from your subscribers, thanks

[@brad1785]

I just replaced the hard drive in my late 2015 iMac and I did not need the sensor. One of the newer versions of the firmware made it so you do not need it. I don't know when exactly, but mine is running Monterey.

[@hardlines2635]

I’ve done four of these 2015 onward and never used the thermal sensor, tech guy told me they are a scam. Take one apart and you’ll see the sensor pad does nothing.

[@iRevive]

What we have discovered is that you do not need a thermal sensor for the 21.5” iMacs after 2012. Some 27” iMac will have the fan run full speed if you do not use a thermal sensor with the SSD. If this happens, you can use a fan controller software called MacsFan Controller to manually adjust the fan speeds. We have also had newer reports that some iMacs after 2015 do not require the thermal sensor mod. These findings are inconsistent so I have not been able to get a definitive answer. More information the thermal sensor mods can be found here. logi.wiki/index.php/iMac_HDD_Thermal_Sensor_Bypass

[@retrotraficante]

el sensor térmico debe estar cerca de la conexión SATA

[@PETERBURNSWILLO]

at 1.55 i use my girls hair dryer an move it around the outer side of screen it helps .but don't keep to much heat in one place ive dune a few ."a very helpful video"

[@rosmurphy476]

I've installed a new ssd but two disk show up on the machine one is the 2tb and the other is a flash drive I think? Can I combine them?

[@iRevive]

If two physical disks are appearing on your iMac, it sounds like that you had a fusion drive set up. What that is is that there’s a flash SSD on the backside of the logic board, while the mechanical side that you replaced now has the 2 TB drive. There is a way to create a fusion drive set up. Depending on which operating system you’re running requires a different terminal command. However, I probably would advise against creating two solid states as one fusion drive set up. That’s just my personal opinion. If you wish to do a fusion drive set up, you can find steps on how to do that on Apple‘s website by googling fusion drive set up for your specific operating system. I hope this information helps out.

[@rosmurphy476]

@@iRevive thanks for the reply, I tried the terminal thing before I posted my question, it didn't work as apple suggested it would. So I've just formatted the 2tb and set it up as the start up disk. It seems to be working fine. Thanks again

[@faheemanwar6789]

excellent. where you are located.

[@iRevive]

We are located in Greenville SC

[@Fer-mu3yq]

Why not install an external thunderbolt 3 enclosure with NVME SSD drive (high speed) instead of having to open the screen?

[@iRevive]

This is a very valid question. You could do that as an option with the 2017 and newer iMac that support USB-C thunderbolt 3. I’m not exactly sure of any bottlenecking that would occur. And that does seem to be a temporary patch to get you by instead of doing a full repair. However we find that most clients prefer to just install an SSD directly into their iMac so they don’t have to worry about caring around any extra enclosures. I have not actually looked at the transfer rates of an external NVMe SSD via thunderbolt, however I feel that an internal SATA connection is faster. I will need to double check that. This guide is more directed towards technicians who are upgrading hard drives for clients. Using an external drive is a viable option if you do not feel comfortable opening up the screen of the iMac.

[@EDDIEGARAGE]

all good thanks

[@AA-hg7xq]

What is a canon tape?

[@iRevive]

Kapton tape is an ESD tape commonly used in electronics. You can use painters tape instead for holding the screen together during the testing process.

[@AA-hg7xq]

Thanks for the quick reply. Your tutorial was excellent. Why rubber gloves? I'm told one could get a shock hitting pc board. True? And heard, not read, that 1419 doesn't need a thermistor. What say you? Grateful for your effort. A

[@voyagestours]

Excellent video 👍 I subscribe

[@Mangold108]

No speed test ?

[@iRevive]

You mean like read write speeds? The crucial drives we use read and write around 500-550 MBs while mechanical hard drives read write around 80 MBs. You can test drive speeds with a free app called black magic.

[@Mangold108]

@@iRevive yes ! Thanks 🙏🏻

[@V1P3RSlab]

every time i disasseble a MAC, i rember why i love "normal" PCs :D

[@bernhardnizynski4403]

What is a 'Black Stick'?

[@iRevive]

A black stick is also known as a spudger. It is a plastic pry tool used in repairs. You can purchase them from iFixit or Amazon. www.ifixit.com/products/spudger

[@DarioushAryan]

bravoo

[@Ὀρκόβος]

I just stopped by to say that the thumbnail looks like you're trying to transfer data to the SSD by pouring your HDD into it as if it were a measuring cup. :D.....

[@iRevive]

I love the idea of this. Lol

[@ianoliver3879]

Why do you refer to yourself in the plural?

[@iRevive]

lol I am sorry if it sounds that way. I am referring to my company (iRevive) and my staff. Not myself.

[@iosuser1174]

Just put external Ssd and enjoy

[@Mr.QuantumC0re]

I think you got ripped off by OWC.

[@apistosig4173]

Max Out the RAM, insert SSD and install Linux Mint - Awesome, Mint runs flawlessly on unsupported Imacs 😉

[@youssefessahli2179]

Thermal sensor 😂 OWC

[@YorickPenninks]

Is it possible to connect two SSD’s on the motherboard?